iShop Hla Day

Unique craft products made by local artisans

Unique crafts with local identity

This beautiful shop sells locally made arts and crafts that make for gorgeous gifts and great souvenirs. Hla Day is also a social enterprise providing sustainable income for local artisans, disadvantaged groups, small family businesses and artisans. Founder Rachel Storaas developed the idea when she joined her husband in 2011 to Myanmar on a stint for the UN. Coming from South Africa where the arts & crafts scene was thriving, she realised this was missing in Yangon’s retail landscape. Soon she found herself traveling all around Yangon looking for craft producers.

Building design capacity

“Design is our most valuable resource” says Ulla Kroeber, Hla Day’s head designer. “We have 28 groups who supply to us on a regular basis. We also organise feed-back sessions to improve quality, they come in with their products on Tuesday and by Thursday we can give them drawings with new ideas for a contemporary twist”.

Design is our most valuable resource.
— Ulla Kroeber

Meet Nilar

This lovely doll was co-created with Action For Public, a support group of women whose lives have been impacted by HIV. Nilar represents the hope to overcome the many obstacles in their lives. Nilar has already been to Stockholm, US, Berlin and Japan, so why not take her on yet another journey?

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